Sealed Passages, A HeartGold Nuzlocke
by THESpifftastic
Summary: Haunted by the past, Gold sets forth in hope of a better future. But even the darkest of pasts never completely fade. Does the road out of New Bark Town lead to happiness, or madness? Rated M for adult content. Updated weekly, or close to it.
1. Introduction

**- Sealed Passages: A Pokemon HeartGold Nuzlocke -**

So over the past few weeks I've been reading various Nuzlocke's. Some of them good, others... Not so much. But as time went on I read more and more of them, and inspiration, much like the fickle beast it is, began to scratch away at the back of my mind. The result is the text you are reading and, hopefully, will continue to read. You ARE still reading, aren't you? Okay, just wanted to make sure.

To describe our plot simply, it is following the journey of our protagonist, Gold, as he travels around the Kanto and Johto regions, gathering gym badges and thwarting Team Rocket's plans.

But this is not a simple story. Indeed, I have been mulling things over in my head and have come up with a plot to compliment this Nuzlocke. You see, I'm a pretty poor artist. I make macaroni art look museum worthy. So as a result I am forced to deliver this tale to you via text. And I doubt anyone wants to read a story along the lines of "Gold went to Route 2 and killed 15 Rattata and his Sentret evolved." That's boring. Instead, while I do this Nuzlocke, I will tell you a story to go along with it. Whether you enjoy it or not remains to be seen.

**- Rules -**

Ah, here is where things will begin to get a bit complicated. You see, I could've stopped at the basic rules of a Nuzlocke. But being the sadistic person I am, I opted to expand the rules to better suit the plot of this Nuzlocke. The result? A system that is more overly complicated than most people would be willing to deal with, but for the purpose of this story I think will play out rather nicely.

Of course, for those of you unfamiliar with Nuzlocke's, I'll lay down the standard rules that apply:

- Only the first Pokemon encountered on a route may be caught. The exceptions to this rule are Pokemon recieved via gift/egg or if it is a duplicate of a previously obtained Pokemon.

- All Pokemon caught must be nicknamed.

- If a Pokemon faints, for the purpose of the Nuzlocke it is considered dead. It must be placed in the PC box and may not be used at all for the remainder of the Nuzlocke.

- Should all Pokemon "die", the Nuzlocke is effectively over. Think of it as "Game Over".

So there's the basics. Ready for the crazy stuff?

**- SANITY -**

So, minor spoiler before we begin. This PARTICULAR incarnation of Gold hasn't exactly had a happy childhood. In fact, quite the opposite. As a result, his mind is in a constant, unstable flux. So how does this play into the Nuzlocke? Basically, Gold has a SANITY METER. Think of it as a guage of how Gold is feeling and thinking currently. So here's the basics:

- Gold begins the Nuzlocke at 50% Sanity.

- The highest his Sanity can reash is 100%. On the opposite side of the spectrum, his Sanity can drop to 0%.

- Sanity can be lost or gained at any time throughout the Nuzlocke.

Sanity can be gained by:

-Defeating trainers in battle. Gold gains 2% Sanity for every basic trainer he defeats, 5% for winning against Team Rocket members, and 15% for defeating Gym Leaders/Rival Battles.

- Finding items in the field. Since these are generally plentiful, each item found only grants 1% Sanity. Obtaining Key Items, on the other hand, grants 3% Sanity.

- Each time Gold visits a Pokemon Center he gains 10% Sanity. This rule only applies the FIRST time Gold visits a Pokemon Center in a town. Repeated visits after the initial visit have no impact on Sanity whatsoever.

- Should Gold emerge victorious in certain in-game events (Bug Catching Contest, Pokeathlon, etc.) he will gain Sanity based upon his performance. (I.E. First place in the Bug Catching Contest grants 10% Sanity, Second place grants 5%, etc.)

Sanity can be lost by:

- Having a Pokemon "die" causes Gold to lose 10% Sanity.

- Traveling in caves or forests cause Gold to lose 5% Sanity every 5 minutes.

- Traveling in DARK caves, regardless of whether Flash is active or not, causes Gold to lose 10% Sanity every 5 minutes.

- Should Gold do poorly in certain in-game events, he will lose 10% Sanity.

- Coming into contact with any Team Rocket Admins causes Gold to lose 25% of his Sanity.

In addition to the above, certain story-based events may have either a negative or positive effect on Gold's Sanity.

So how will Sanity play into this Nuzlocke, you ask?

First, Sanity will effect how Gold speaks and interacts with those around him. To break it down:

- At 100% Sanity Gold is the same as you or I. He acts, speaks, and moves just like a normal person.

- From 70-99% Sanity, Gold acts a bit "twitchy". He's mostly normal, but is a bit more mistrusting and jumpy.

- From 40-69% Sanity, Gold becomes more withdrawn. He does not speak at all, and sometimes does not notice or respond to events going on around him.

- From 1-39% Sanity, Gold withdraws even further. He will not notice even the most dangerous of situations, and in this state is unable to capture Pokemon or obtain items.

- At 0% Sanity Gold goes Insane. In addition to the previous restrictions, Gold's fear and paranoia extends to his own team of Pokemon, and immediately "kills" one of his Pokemon upon reaching this level of Sanity. This will always be the most recent capture he has made. For example, if Gold goes Insane in Mt. Mortar and his most recent capture was a Marill, Gold will instantly dispatch the Marill. Gold will continue to kill one of his Pokemon every 20 minutes until he goes above 10% Sanity.

**- Stores -**

Unlike most Nuzlocke's, Gold will have access to stores. However, there will be restrictions in place. - Gold may only visit each store once, and only on his first visit to the city. The exception to this rule is the Goldenrod City Department Store, which he may visit twice (The second time during the Radio Tower Invasion).

- If Gold is at or below 75% Sanity he will not enter the store, as he will feel to uncomfortable to enter such a cramped and crowded place.

- Should Gold leave a city without visiting it's store, whether by choice or due to Sanity restrictions, he will no longer have access to that store.

- Gold is restricted to buying 5 individual items per store. This means he could opt to buy 5 Repels, or 2 Pokeballs with 3 Potions.

- Gold may not buy Revives or Full Restores. Anything else is fair game.

So this overall sets the basic tone and set-up for Gold's adventure. The first chapter is mainly exposition, so expect the actual gameplay/rules/mechanics to come into play with Chapter 2. This will not be a happy story, nor is is for the faint of heart. But overall, I hope I can pen an experience that we can go int hand-in-hand and enjoy ourselves


	2. Prologue: A Hard Case

Quick Author's Note: This chapter is meant as exposition for the main story. Rest assured, the "gameplay" part will factor in with the next part, but for now I wanted to set up the base of the story you are about to read. Also, apologies for the delay. A small storm passed through my city and knocked out most of the power for the better part of the week, and I've only just recently managed to recover from it.

**Chapter 1: A Hard Case**

For most bystanders, any crime or offense commited seemed simple. And so it was, but only on the surface. Look beneath and even the simplest of crime was a complex web woven of motivations, greed, and corruption. Often times, there wouldn't be any to truly blame from the get-go, and this only made things more complicated. Many officers will often work on these cases, some of them giving up halfway through while others would see them through to the end. It was one particular case that was keeping Looker in his office as he thumbed through the paperwork for what left like the hundredth time in a row.

Once, nothing.

Twice, nothing.

Looker read through a third time, hoping for some small sentence, some small detail he had missed or overlooked. But there was nothing to miss. All of the details were present, and all that was missing were details that could only be given by the sole witness. Looker heaved a sigh as he set the papers aside, rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to relieve the headache that plagued him. Yes, only a single child who was too shocked and scared to speak.

* * *

At first, of course, no one had thought anything was amiss. One of Professor Elm's research assistants had taken his seven-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter camping for the weekend in the foothills surrounding Mount Silver. His wife had stayed at home in case Elm needed a way to contact him. But then the weekend had came and went, and there was no sign of the man or his children. At first his wife didn't worry too much, as she thought perhaps the weather or road were barring passage. But then a full week passed, followed by a second week, and still there was no word. It wasn't until almost a third week had passed that news finally came.

A pair of hikers had been exploring the various caverns in the foothills when they found one was completely sealed off. Naturally, their curiousity got the better of them and they began to remove the boulders. It wasn't until a few moments had passed that they were able to hear the ragged breathing coming from the opposite side of the rubble. Realizing someone was trapped inside, the hikers released their Pokemon and quickly began to remove the rubble. The sight that greeted them was far from pleasant.

How the boy had survived for as long as he had was unknown. His skin seemed to be hanging off his bones, with his eyes sunken deeply within his sockets. Despite them calling out to him, he didn't seem to react to his saviour's presence at all. He just sat there, staring into space. When one of the hikers touched his shoulder, however, he reacted very violently. He suddenly lashed around, teeth bared, and tore a chunk of flesh out of the shocked man's arm. Terrified of what the boy may do if provoked further, the two men quickly alerted the authorities of their discovery.

Within the hour, the local police force arrived. After a small skirmish with the boy, they were able to subdue him and quickly brought him back to the station. After filing through a list of missing persons, they found their mark: The boy was named Gold, and lived in New Bark Town. He had been missing for nearly three weeks.

The first step, of course, was to confirm his identity. With his mother contacted, the officers sat and waited, watching the boy all the while. Not once did he move, speak, or even blink. The only sign of life was the labored breathing his body experienced, almost as if every breath he took had some sort of toll on his energy. When they boy's mother arrived, she immediately went to see him, joyous that at least one member of her family had returned to her. All was well until she made contact with Gold, sitting down in front of him and placing her hand on his lap. At the initial touch, the boy's head swung up to stare at his mother. Rather than his normal reaction of biting and attacking his subject, however, his eyes grew wide. After mere seconds he began to scream and ran to the opposite side of the room, staring at his mother, eyes wide with fear. As his mother tried to move closer, the intensity of his screams worsened, and Gold did not calm down until his mother, heartbroken, left the room.

At first, it was suspected the boy was being abused at home, but this theory was quickly disproven. All of Gold's neighbors made no mention of strange activity prior to his disappearance. For all intents and purposes he had a been a normal, perfectly happy seven-year-old boy. The family was well off financialy, lived in a friendly neighborhood, and almost consistently had neighbors coming into and out of their house. There was nothing to suggest any form of abuse, physical or otherwise.

While this transpired, a small force had been dispatched to investigate the cavern where the boy had been found in hopes the fate of his father and sister could be discovered. But the cave was barren of any visible life, and no bodies could be found anywhere within. The search party had nearly given up when one of their number noticed the pitch black substance that lined the caves entrance. Gunpowder. The cave-in had been set off on purpose. That was two weeks ago.

Of course, with only one witness who was unwilling to speak, all of the officers had been hard-pressed to continue working on the case. Most of the officers had simply given up, seeing the case as a lost cause.

Looker, however, was not most officers.

Although he had dedicated so much of his time to his work, Looker had always wanted to settle down eventually and raise a family of his own. But more often than not, the world's security came first and foremost, and it was hard to go to the local bar to meet singles when you were tracking some of the most dangerous criminals in the known world. Only recently had Team Rocket invaded Saffron City, but by the time the International Police arrived on the scene they had already been chased off by a mere child. Red, if Looker's memory served. Kind boy, but a bit on the quiet side.

Nevertheless, seeing the poor boy had hit a soft spot in Looker's heart. Over the years of his work, Looker had worked with many men and women who had dealt with various distressing situations. Often they were quiet, barely reacting to those around them. A part of it was fear of what they had seen and experienced, but another large part of it was shock. Shock that something so awful could happen to them. Being shocked that out of all the people who had been through a similar experience, only they had survived. Sometimes they would open on day one. But other times they would just sit silently for hours on end. Looker had learned long ago that with these people you needed patience. They would talk when ready, but would respond negatively if pressed to much, assuming they responded at all. It pierced Looker's heart to see such a small, frail child with that lost look that Looker had seen on far too many older men.

Standing up from his desk, Looker looked once again at the holding room where Gold was currently staying. Although he only responded violently when touched, there was still the concern he would react violently if left to his own devices, and for the time being he was to stay at the station. Personally, Looker wanted to the boy to be able to return home swiftly and safely, but it wasn't his call to make. And there was still the matter of the boy's remaing family. Had they been seperated from him in the resulting cave-in? Perhaps there was a second cave they had become trapped in. Looker's blood ran cold as he considered the possibilty that Gold had simply been abandoned in the cave to die rather than be rescued by his family. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but you learned to consider even the darkest of possiblities after a while.

But now it was time to visit Gold again. Looker walked to his bookshelf, picking out a small collection of books to read. He grabbed one for Gold as well. While the boy had not responded the to anything prior that week, the day before, shortly before leaving, he had grabbed one of the books Looker had brought with him and opened it. While he only stared blankly at the title page, it was still the only action the boy had visibly taken outside of eating up until that point, and Looker hoped that he would soon be be speaking. That was the hope, at any rate. As he opened the door, Looker noticed another a small difference. Gold sat on the bed he currently slept in, and looked up at the sound of the door opening, another promising reaction.

"And how are you doing today, Gold?" Looker asked, smiling at the boy. Gold did not react, and merely stared at the door Looker had just walked in from. Closing it behind him, Looker took his seat at the table on the far wall of the room. It did not escape his notice that a few more pages had been turned since the day before, suggesting the boy had examined the book more since he had left.

"So what do you think of Poe's work? A bit dark for my tastes, but you can't deny it has it's own small charm." Still no reaction from Gold. Looker merely smiled again before opening his reading material of choice for the day. He really had taken a liking to those cheesy romance novels he had once mocked. If only love were as easy as the books made it out to be... Oh well.

Such was the routine that Looker had fallen into. Every day, he would enter the room, take a seat, and wait. Wait for some sign, some action, some indication that he was making progress. Try not to get frustrated, try not to get distracted, try desperately hard not to give up.

* * *

Several hours had passed, and the sun had begun it's descent into the horizon. Looker allowed himself a small yawn. He hadn't been sleeping well since beginning this case, partly out of frustration and partly out of concern. It was never easy working on any case, but Gold's situation seemed especially taxing. Looker had often wondered what it might be like to have a child of his own, and wondered if he would ever be concerned about his own flesh and blood. Regardless, he couldn't stay all night. The officer began to pack things away when he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

Looker cursed himself as he flinched away from Gold's touch. He knew the child needed as much positive reinforcement as possible right now, but he hadn't expected such contact so suddenly, or so soon. Gold, however, seemed unphased, and merely continued to stare fixedly at the older man. With what looked like immense effort, the child opened his mouth. No sound came out, and he promptly closed his mouth again. Looker waited patiently as Gold struggled, with obvious effort, to speak.

"... Ho..." Gold rasped, his throat struggling to allow noise to come out.

Looker smiled, but made no other motion. This was important, this was what he had been waiting for. All that was left now was to be patient and wait. Gold continued to struggle, obviously torn. He continued to shake and shudder, and Looker wouldn't have been shocked if the boy had burst out crying. But still, all he could do was wait now.

"... I... I want to go home." Tears began to fall down Gold's face, and Looker felt a sharp pain pierce his heart as he recollected what this young child had been through. But he knew just as well he couldn't show any weakness. He needed to be strong right now. Gold needed to him to be strong.

"Not yet." Looker stated, trying his best not to let his emotions betray him. "We need you to help us."

"... I... I..." Gold began to stammer, but Looker cut him off.

"You're scared. You've been through an ordeal many adults older than me should never be forced to go through. You need to be in a safe place right now. And I want that for you very much, but we don't know what if sending you home is safe yet." Looker paused to see if Gold had any reaction. Seeing none, he placed his hand firmly, but gently, on the boy's shoulder. "We think someone may have trapped you in that cave. And we want to punish them, but we don't know who they are. And if we want to find the rest of your family, we-"

"You won't find them." The tears intensified as Gold's voice seemed to return to it's full clarity. A chill ran down Looker's spine as he felt the tone in the boy's voice. It spoke of pain, sadness, anger, but overriding them all was more powerful emotion: Fear.

"And why is that?" Looker didn't have much hope, of course. At this point it had been over a month since everyone had gone missing, and it was too much to hope by now that both the father and sister were still alive.

Gold was silent, his gaze fixated on the floor. After what felt like an eternity, he spoke without looking up. "They... They wouldn't have wanted me to die, would they?"

Looker blinked. Of course he could never know the answer to that, but he felt the answer was obvious. "Of course not. Why would you think otherwise?"

Gold collapsed to the floor, as if his legs could no longer bear his weight, or perhaps he didn't have the energy to continue standing. But nothing would ever remove the memory of the ravaged, haunted look in his eyes as his gaze traveled upward. "... I..."

* * *

No. There was no such thing as an easy case. Looker sighed as he stared at his superior, a man codenamed Bandit. It was a name he had inherited when, on one of his very first cases, he had accidentally stolen several goods from an innocent bystander, believing it stolen propaganda. Of course, great mistakes are made by great men, and there was no doubt that nowadays any criminal who crossed Bandit would walk away without some measure of justice.

"You sure it's best to send him home?" Bandit asked, staring intently at Looker. "I know you've been working with this kid for a couple weeks, but it's easy to grow attached over a short amount of time. I don't want pity blinding your judgement."

Looker shook his head. "No, I believe it's what would be best. Sending him to a mental hospital would just amplify the damage he's already sustained. After all this time, he needs a familiar setting, and with faces fare friendlier than ours."

Bandit sighed. "The boy's mother will, of course, need to be informed of what's happened. I doubt she'll be enthralled by the news. You may be sentencing to an even worse fate. If she's anything short of repulsed I'll be shocked."

"Sometimes we need to take risks in order to do what's right." Looker smiled weakly. "Still, I suppose it would explain a lot. It seemed a little suspcious anyone, especially a child as young as that, would be able to go by without any food. The abscence of Gold's sister and father would be adequately explained as well. And, well, you yourself saw how terrified he was of his mother."

"You do plan to check on him from time to time, of course." Looker knew it wasn't a question.

"I think it might be... Prudent, I would say, to keep an eye in him in case of more lapses. And who knows, perhaps the culprit may make a second attempt on his life. Unlikely, but still a possiblity."

"... If you're sure, then." Bandit waved Looker off, dismissing him. It wans't until Looker was just about to open the door that he spoke again. "Frankly, I'm amazed you yourself are so calm over this news. I personally find it sickening."

Looker composed himself quickly. The mere thought still made him come close to retching. "No human... no _child _should ever have to be forced to eat the corpses of their family, even if it is to survive."

And with that Looker left the room, not knowing that this case was still far from it's conclusion.


End file.
